Jacques Kallis has admitted that his plan to play in next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was “a bridge too far” by announcing his retirement from all international cricket with immediate effect.

The South Africa all-rounder retired from Test cricket last December, but had continued to play one-day and Twenty20 international cricket with the aim of playing in the World Cup.

But the 38-year-old revised his plans after returning from South Africa’s recent tour to Sri Lanka.

“I realised in Sri Lanka that my dream of playing in a World Cup was a bridge too far,” Kallis said. “I just knew on that tour that I was done. The squad that was in Sri Lanka is an amazing one and I believe they have a good chance of bringing the trophy home in March.

“I would like to thank Cricket South Africa, the team, the team sponsors, my sponsors, the fans and all the people who have been involved in my career. It has been an amazing journey.

“I am not retiring from all cricket as I have a two-year contract with the Sydney Thunder and, if possible, to help the Kolkata Knight Riders defend the IPL [Indian Premier League] title we won earlier this year.”

Kallis, who played for the Old Edwardians club in Solihull in 1994, the year before he made his Test debut, ended his one-day international career with 11,579 runs in 328 matches with 17 centuries and 86 fifties. He played 25 Twenty20 internationals and is the only South African batsman with over 10,000 runs in Test and one-day internationals.

Two former England captains, Michael Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, also took to Twitter to heap praise on Kallis. “Jacques Kallis is the greatest ever all-rounder in my opinion. The international game will miss him. #Kallis”, Vaughan wrote.

Collingwood added: “He scored runs for fun, swung it both ways, could hit you in the head and had hands like buckets. Congrats @jacqueskallis75 #TheBest.”

Kallis’s South Africa team-mates also paid their respects, with JP Duminy tweeting: “Been a privilege and an honour to have played alongside this living legend @jacqueskallis75 Congrats.”

There was a more formal tribute from Haroon Lorgat, chief executive of Cricket South Africa, who hailed the impact Kallis had on cricket.

“South Africa has been blessed with one of the world’s greatest cricketing talents in Jacques Kallis. He is undeniably one of the greatest players ever to have graced our wonderful game and he has certainly been the Proteas’ standard-bearer of excellence for nearly two decades.

“He has played a huge part in making cricket a truly national sport of winners and, in doing so, contributed so much to the important process of nation building.”